Materials
by Darkfirelight
Summary: LloydXRaine. Pre-game. In the forest, away from the small town of Iselia, Lloyd escorts Raine to find certain materials for class.


Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.

Summary: In the forest, away from the small town of Iselia Lloyd helps Raine find class materials. LloydXRaine. Pre-game.

Lloyd: Age 16-17.

Raine: Age 22-23.

* * *

Lloyd was well acknowledged as the best swordsman in Iselia, despite the protestations of both the make-shift town guard and the religious zealots up at the temple; because of this when it came time for the professor to gather supplies for class he was the one that accompanied her into the forest or requested specific materials from his father; materials that would be studied or examined by the professor's inquisitive mind.

Usually Genis accompanied the two and the best friends made a day out of it under the watchful eye of the elder elven woman. However, with Genis tutoring Colette in Math (Something Lloyd had long avoided much to his younger friend's chagrin) the brunet youth was responsible for ensuring the teacher's welfare and continued health while she searched for samples.

"Professor!" The dwarf-raised lad grinned, waving as he approached the orange-wearing white-haired woman. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Lloyd." She smiled slightly at his enthusiasm, stepping out of the doorway and closing the door behind her. "Are you ready to escort me to the forest?" She queried.

"Sure."

"Well then, I'm in your care." Raine said politely.

"R-Right." The red-clad young man scratched the back of his head, a blush alighting his face at her words. "I'll guard you great!"

"'Well', Lloyd, guard you 'well'." The older woman corrected bemusedly, chuckling into the palm of her hand.

"Right." He repeated, cringing as he set off at a light jog to keep up with the teacher's quick pace.

* * *

"FABULOUS!" Raine practically sparkled as she beheld the light purple orchid in her hands, crystal-blue eyes wide. "Lloyd, did you know that this flower goes back well over four hundred years and was originally used for it's medicinal properties to treat a specific poison known as-"

"PROFESSOR!" Lloyd yelped from where his foot was caught in a similarly coloured plant off to the side of the clearing, the 'Plant-trap' fiercely gripping his leg. "I'm sure that's very interesting and all, but I need a little help over here."

"Honestly, Lloyd, it's just a little plant-trap, and a smaller breed of the vegetation at that." She huffed, stepping over a rocky edge jutting out of the ground and smacking the stem with her mahogany staff, causing it to release him and send him stumbling back.

"Thanks." He said gratefully, smiling at her.

"It's no problem, Lloyd. Now, about that floO-" She was cut off as, distracted, she backed into the rock she'd just stepped over and slowly tumbled backward toward the muddy path. "Aaah!"

Lloyd jerked, stunned as he saw her tumble backward. "Professor!" he lunged forward, stumbling as he tried to stop her fall. His arms reached out beneath her to catch her and he fell to one knee as he came to rest beside her, the half-elven woman landing in his arms with a jolt.

"Oh my." Raine gasped, holding a hand to her chest as she lay in his arms. "Thank you, Lloyd."

"No problem," He wheezed, struggling for air as he'd accidentally buried his knee in his stomach when she landed.

"OH!" She quickly got out of his arms and stood straight, brushing off her orange, white and black ensemble. "I'm sorry, are you alright?" She queried concernedly as she regarded his crouching form, he tried to reply only to let out a strangled yelp when he moved. "Let me take a look." Despite his protests she got him to lie down and pulled off the straps over his shoulders, taking off his bright red top. "Oh my." She repeated, eyeing his muscular definition, usually well-hidden by the thick fabric of his regular clothing.

"What, is it bad?" He asked worriedly, frowning as he tried to look down at his chest.

"N-No." She blushed, the light pink a strict contrast to her white-pale skin. "Just a moment. _First aid." _She intoned, holding her hand over the bright red of the affected skin. "Does that feel better?"

He slowly sat up and blinked when he didn't feel any pain. "Yeah. That's amazing Professor!" He grinned brightly, turning awed eyes onto the lingering flickers of mana in her palms. "I wish I could do that." He pouted childishly at her, drawing a small chuckle from the older woman.

"Well, I'm afraid that just won't be possible." She shook her head exasperatedly at his childish behaviour and stood up again.

"Yeah..." Lloyd 'tsk'ed' and got up himself, shrugging. "It's just gotta be a bit annoying, having to touch me so much all the time." Lloyd grimaced slightly, reminiscing on all of the times that he had tripped, fallen, gotten injured on the way to Iselia, gotten injured helping with renovations around the town (in particular the shelf in the Sage home that he always seemed to walk into) and all the other times. Unlike Colette, however, Lloyd didn't heal due to his heritage.

Raine blushed deeply at his words and stared at him, eyes wide. "Oh MY!" She stuttered out once more, startled.

Lloyd spun back to her as he heard the words uttered, brown eyes meeting blue. "What, what is it Professor?"

She squinted for a moment, as though trying to figure out if he'd said the words on purpose or not and then relaxed, chuckling under her breathe at her student's obliviousness. "It's nothing Lloyd. And..." She pondered on whether to word the sentence as she was thinking or not, finally just saying what she thought. "...I don't mind touching you all the time." She blushed at her words, looking away.

"Cool!" Lloyd grinned, unaware of the context of her words. "So, have you got all your samples, professor?"

She looked back at him, marveling at his cluelessness. "...Yes, Lloyd. All of the forest orchids are in the bag."

"Bag?" Lloyd looked around and stilled as he caught sight of a squashed, dirty bag in the middle of the clearing. "A-Ah..."

Raine chuckled once more and shook her head. "Well, I guess I'll just have to collect a new batch." She told the young man with an exasperated expression on her face.

"Sorry professor." Lloyd said sheepishly.

"It's no problem Lloyd, if you hadn't stepped on them, then you wouldn't have caught me. I prefer it this way." She reassured him.

"I would always catch you, professor." He said firmly, nodding as though to confirm what he'd just said. "Shall we find these violets?"

Raine stared at him for a moment and then smiled softly, ignoring the misnomer. "Thank you, Lloyd."

"N-No problem!" He laughed sheepishly, blushing. "Here's one!" He knelt in the short grass to the side of the road, picking up completely the wrong flower.

Raine sighed, shaking her head. "Wrong flower, Lloyd." She covered her mouth with her hand so that he wouldn't see her smile and shook her head slightly at his stuttered apologies. It was funny how much such a brash, confident young man could be reduced to a stuttering idiot in just a few words.

But then, that was part of what she liked about him.


End file.
